This is a classic OLD SCHOOL direct mail package that’s as relevant in this post-pandemic world, as when it mailed twenty years ago.
Perhaps even more so. Take this headline:
“A business strategy that may be common as dirt in one industry can have the effect of an atomic bomb in an industry in which it has never been used before.” [Read more…]
How could any self-respecting ad archivist resist this swipe in a case study that cost an advertiser $300 k?
You’ve likely run into A Little Mistake That Cost a Farmer $3,000 Each Year in Victor Schwab’s classic house ad spread 100 Good Advertising Headlines.
Darn good headline from 1919… and it was darn hard to find!
There’s no excelling upon Victor Schwab’s thumbnail sketch on this classic that… [Read more…]
Who would have guessed this ad sold one and a half million copies of a $12.95 book?
There was no backend offer to this blockbuster that ran by the thousands from 1999 to 2003. It was just a lonely frontend that pulled in over $19 million.
It’s certain there are some marketers today who’d laugh at this print ad — especially the cartoon illustration of “Webmaster Grannie.”
Forget about them. [Read more…]
This direct mail package might as well have been written a lifetime ago, instead of the the early to late 2000s, when it mailed heavily.
Look at all that’s changed. [Read more…]
Here’s an ad from one of the BIG direct response players from yesteryear.
This MAGIC headline did much of the heavy lifting to sell over 2.6 MILLION copies of the book that captured the zeitgeist of the times. [Read more…]
Here’s a rare, send-no-money, risk-free trial offer, with no obligation to buy.
This self-mailer is making the rounds in late 2020.
The offer for this pain relief cream is as resistance free as it gets.
What’s the goal behind such a generous offer? In three words… [Read more…]
Talk about copy that transcends the product for sale.
Take a look at this one.
This is how you sell a $199 coin by mail order. [Read more…]
When you’ve got an ad that’s capturing response like crazy… what do you do?
Obviously, not sit on your laurels.
Answer: Test, test and test some more!
You’re looking at one HOT ad that’s had tens of thousands of print insertions since December 2016.
Why is it so hot?
The photo and caption in this ad perform some of the heaviest lifting you may ever see in an ad. [Read more…]
Why has this testimonial headline been going strong since 2014?
Let’s have at it.
First off, despite the potential for a lot of POP, the testimonial headline is often ignored. [Read more…]
Believe it or not, you can learn a LOT about response getting direct mail — and winning direct response in general — from the lowly penny stock pitch.
This is the sequel in the campaign to the colossal newspaper mailing from earlier this year and it’s mailing in October of 2020.
Everything you need to know about this market (where direct response is concerned, anyway) is succinctly summed up here: Crypto Cannabis Copywriting Cabal. [Read more…]
Some of us 20th Century marketers may recall an interesting lead generation case study from eBay.
There was an eBay seller who’d seemingly cornered the market on guitar picks and offered hundreds of lots of guitar picks at any given time.
The price for one of these lots was ridiculously low.
So low, an outsider might ask: “How’s this seller making any money on this transaction?” or “Why bother?”
Alas, this is a BILLION dollar lead gen lesson! [Read more…]
Here’s a full page lead generation ad that’s BURSTING through the pages of The Wall Street Journal, Investor’s Business Daily, USA Today and many more.
What can we learn from a wealth management company with $100+ BILLION in its coffers that got them where they are today… using direct response?
Keep on testing! [Read more…]
I’m a sucker for response boosters like this that have stood the test of time.
And these ads, from Dow Theory Forecasts, ran by the THOUSANDS in the 1960s and 1970s.
Why were they so successful and why do some direct mail advertisers use it as their go-to teaser copy?
Let’s have at it.
“3 Stocks to Buy Before DECEMBER 20” ran as various fractional sizes from 1/4 page verticals to 1/8 page.
The RED circle is my markup to emphasize the motor of this response rocket — the “claim in time frame” or the “action in time frame.”
This is NOT about deadlines but something FAR craftier. [Read more…]
One may either like or dislike this publisher, his newsletter and his message, but one thing is for certain…
There’s no way to be indifferent to one of his epic DM packages — there’s no squishy middle.
That’s because the publisher with a STRONG voice and views WINS every time over the one who hedges his bet. [Read more…]
How often do you see a full fledged real estate investment pitch like this in the New York Times?
This ad was on fire in the Wild West of workshops in real estate investing and had thousands of insertions. [Read more…]
All of us in the direct response game know about the importance of testing.
You can learn more with one test than all the opinions (and focus groups) in the world.
Bluntly, a credit card settlement from a flesh and blood customer is the yardstick by which we measure, not the opinion of someone who may not even be a prospect for what we’re selling.
Most marketers know they should test more — that goes doubly for yours truly — but complacency has a way of rearing its ugly head.
What to test? The big ones are: [Read more…]
Dear Friend,
I once saw an old farmer lift the rear end of a pickup truck and push it off the ice where it was spinning its wheels. He had never touched a weight in his life. But that ‘s nothing compared to the little old ladies who have performed the same feat in an emergency!
Here’s another one for you to chew on… [Read more…]
If you live in North America, you’ve surely bumped into this company’s display ads, catalogs, print insertions or radio ads.
Here’s their 44 giant pages of course creation copywriting if you missed it.
There’s no topic of academic interest that hasn’t been turned into an exciting course by them.
The Great Ideas of Philosophy presents the heavyweights: Kant, bacon, Newton, Locke and Descartes. [Read more…]
He’s one of the most visible frontmen in financial publishing.
And he wields plenty of cloak and dagger to fill up a mail package.
I’m talking about Jim Rickards. [Read more…]
$4,997 for a newsletter subscription…
$3,200 for a skin cream…
$4,000 for an anti-aging supplement…
$9,990 for a power supply backup…
And cosmetic dentistry that makes them all look like bargains.
Whether you’re marketing products or services…
Forget about what those around you are charging… to a degree anyway. [Read more…]
The 1-word headline has a long response grabbing history.
Too few marketers test it.
Headlines like:
* HELP
* WANTED
* OBSCENE
The advantage of the one-word GRABBER is obvious. [Read more…]
This is surely one of the most PERSUASIVE investment ads ever to appear in print… newspaper print that is. There were only a handful of copywriters on the planet at the time who could have devised this pitch.
It’s PACKED with iron clad proof elements. Absolutely every exit and escape hatch has been SEALED SHUT by this legendary financial copywriter.
And if you had to choose ONE financial print ad for your “desert island” ads collection — this 3,000 word opus would be on your short list.
The target prospect for UnDiscovered Stocks — a BRILLIANT newsletter name — is the Main Street investor who’s likely been DEVOURED numerous times by the schools of sharks swimming on Wall Street. [Read more…]
Insurance boasts some of the greatest lead generation and compelling offers of any category in advertising.
It’s surely due for a category of its own here.
This ad by Sun Life ran as a full page insertion in British tabloids in 1987.
The personal letter with the EYE CATCHING handwriting snippet is not seen much these days in print or online.
It’s a GREAT way to get prospects into the copy and worth a test. [Read more…]
This was one of the most successful advertorial series of all time.
NGC Sports were BIG TIME in sport fishing and golf and had TENS of thousands of insertions in everything from local newspapers… to trade publications like Oklahoma Farm Bureau… all the way to Newsweek magazine and the Wall Street Journal.
These are advertorials that would make John Caples PROUD.
What happened to them? [Read more…]
Here’s a MEMORABLE pain relief pitch that was hot just a few years ago.
The great thing about this “fill in the blank” headline is if you’re a supplements marketer, it doesn’t matter where your prospect’s source of pain is.
You can see why this Newsmax flagship product was such a darling in media far and wide. [Read more…]
